Cream 

How to cook Armenian gata from ready-made dough. Kada (gata) - homemade cookies with a filling

Tasty, hearty and ancient Armenian round gata with nut khoriz today, like many centuries before us, leaves no one indifferent. The first mention of this delicacy was found in a 13th century fable. In those distant times, gata was served on big church holidays. Before baking, the hostess hid a coin inside for good luck. To this day, not a single traditional wedding in Armenia is complete without a festive gata, although no one will refuse to enjoy its delicate creamy nutty taste on ordinary days. Over the long years of existence of this dessert, almost every region of Armenia has its own recipe for its preparation. Today you can try gata in different shapes, with different fillings and from different doughs. In this recipe, Armenian round gata with nut choriz is made from chopped dough in ghee and milk. Crushed walnuts are added to the filling, which makes the dessert especially aromatic. These pastries remain tasty and fresh for several days.

To prepare an Armenian round gata you will need:

  1. Sour milk - 100 ml;
  2. Ghee - 100 g;
  3. Chicken eggs - 2 pcs.;
  4. Salt - 1 pinch;
  5. Soda - 1 tsp;
  6. Granulated sugar - 100 g;
  7. Flour - 300 g.

Ingredients for choriz:

  • Granulated sugar - 100 g;
  • Ghee - 50 g;
  • Flour - 100 g;
  • Walnuts - 50 g;
  • Greasing yolk - 1 pc.

Armenian round gata and choriz recipe

Sift flour and mix with granulated sugar, soda and salt. Vanilla sugar can be added. Do not defrost cold ghee. Add it to dry ingredients and chop with a knife. Small oil grains completely enveloped in flour should form.

Drive in the eggs.

Pour cold milk into the well in the center of the flour mixture.

Knead the dough quickly. Wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

How to make horiz

While the dough is cooling, prepare the choriz. In modern cooking, it is called streusel. Mix flour with ghee and granulated sugar.


Add chopped walnuts.


Grind until crumbs form.


Divide the dough into 2 parts. Roll out the first cake 3-5 mm thick. Place half of the choriz in the center.


Collect the edges of the cake. Connect so that the filling does not spill out.


Turn the bag over and flatten it with your hands, making sure that the filling is evenly distributed inside. Complete the formation of the Armenian round ghat with walnut choriz by rolling it out with a rolling pin.

This is the set of products needed to prepare the Yerevan gata dough. Ghee can be taken ready-made or prepared on your own at home. The temperature of the water for the dough should be 30 degrees.

Let's prepare a safe yeast dough. To do this, pour warm water into a deep bowl and dilute fresh yeast in it. Here we sift the flour mixed with salt, and begin to knead the dough. Kneading the dough for Gata is pretty hard, the dough is steep at first. As soon as the flour has taken up all the water, we begin to gradually add ghee.

It took me about 10 minutes to knead the dough, and each time a new portion of ghee was added, the dough became softer. Round off the finished dough, cover and leave warm for 30 minutes. While the dough is standing, prepare the next portion of ghee (100 grams) for flaking the dough ...

And let's make the filling. For the filling, mix flour and ghee.

Rub flour and butter with your fingers until friable crumbs are obtained.

Add powdered sugar to the resulting crumb, mix the crumb again with your hands. The filling is ready. Let's put it aside.

Let's start sandwiching the dough with melted butter. The book indicates the exact weight of flour that may be needed when rolling and lamination of the dough, but the dough is absolutely not sticky, so I almost did not need flour. For convenience, I divided the dough into 2 parts and rolled out each one separately.

Roll out the dough into a layer 2 mm thick, use a culinary brush to coat the surface of the dough with ghee, fold the dough in half, wrapping it in butter, and roll it out again. Thus, we repeat the procedure 4-5 times, or until the ghee runs out. I got 7 layers.

As with kneading dough, it is very difficult to roll out at the beginning, but with each added layer of butter, the dough becomes softer and softer. Roll the resulting puff pastry into a tight roll.

Cut the roll into pieces weighing 200 grams each. From this amount of dough, we get 5 pieces of dough. We measure the filling: 170 grams for each product.

The traditional molding of the Yerevan gata is a round cake with a filling inside. In this form, gata is served in Armenia for holidays and weddings. To make a traditional gata, roll a piece of dough into a round thin cake. Put the filling in the center of the cake, leaving the edges free.

Next, we collect the edges to the center and carefully pinch. Lightly roll the blank with a rolling pin (or gently knead it with your hands) into a round cake 2 cm thick. You don't need to press down the filling too much, it should remain crumbly.

We shift the gata seam down onto a baking sheet covered with baking paper. We prick the top of the Yerevan gata with a fork in several places. Patterns can be applied over the entire surface of the dough (with a fork or the blunt side of a knife). Lubricate the surface of the gata with egg yolk and send it to bake in a preheated oven (at a temperature of 190-200 degrees) for 20-25 minutes or until tender.

From one piece of dough, I molded the familiar gata to our eyes in the form of individual cookies. With this molding, the filling does not spill out during baking and the oil does not melt at all, but there are some difficulties in forming the gata before baking - a small part of the filling spills out when the blanks are transferred to the baking sheet.

A friend from Armenia told me that it is correct to call this pastry "Kyata Yerevanskaya". So, the crumbly and tasty Kyata Yerevanskaya is ready! Despite the fact that there is no sweetness in the dough, the pastries turned out to be sweet due to the filling and very fragrant, although there are no fragrances in the composition. Bon Appetit!

There are a lot of cooking options for this traditional Armenian pastry! In fact, residents of every corner of the country claim that their gata (also called kyata) is the most delicious.

The product is made from sponge and simple yeast dough, with sweet and salty fillings, of various shapes: round, in the form of rolls, and so on. I decided to opt for such a simplified version of making the dough in a safe way. Usually, such a dough is prepared with the addition of the Armenian national fermented milk product - yogurt. In the absence of, we replace it with sour cream ...

The whole zest of the dessert lies in the fact that a large amount of butter is used, it is its addition to the dough that resembles a puff pastry. The usual filling for gata is called khoriz in Armenia. It is made from butter - ghee or, conversely, chilled, vanillin, sugar and flour. But on the days of big holidays, raisins, crushed nuts, candied fruits, orange peel can be added to horiz. So let's get started ...

03.12.2018

Gata is perhaps the most common type of baked goods in Armenia. Gata is a dessert that is a cross between a puff pastry and a pie with a sweet filling. No holiday is complete without this baking. And also it is not uncommon on our everyday table.

In any case, childhood memories are associated with gata, since its unique taste and aroma remind of home comfort, warmth, motherly care, well-being, goodness.

History and traditions

The first written mention of the gata occurs in the 13th century, but it is not known exactly when this dessert appeared exactly. Undoubtedly, it has existed as long as the Armenian people themselves. This dish has absorbed the national spirit. Despite the fact that the Armenians were in extremely unfavorable conditions until the beginning of the 20th century, they still managed to preserve their identity and cultural values. Gata is appreciated and loved both at home and among the diasporas scattered across the land.

Even far from their native land, the people have retained the national features of their cuisine.

Many beautiful traditions are connected with this type of baking. For example, a bride, stepping on the threshold of the groom's house, brings into it, among other things, a delicious gata. It is presented to matchmakers, and girls who help the bride to dress before the wedding are also treated to it.

Armenians bake Lenten Gata for the Presentation of the Lord - according to a special recipe, without breaking the Fast. It is customary to put a coin in it, and it is believed that the one who gets it will be successful and happy.

Varieties of gata

Armenian gata has several regional varieties, and the difference lies in the proportions of ingredients, types of filling and dough kneading technology. These cookies are flaky, leavened and bland.

So, in order to bake Artsakh, Stepanavan and Karaklis ghats, you must first prepare dough. Yerevan and Gyumri are prepared without dough.

In some cases, cookies are simply smeared with yolk, in others, they are decorated with intricate ornaments.

This dish also differs in shape.

It can be made in the form of a tortilla, roll, pie.

The dough is kneaded exclusively by hands, because it is so important to convey warmth and care for loved ones! The filling is called choriz. Most often it is sweet and consists of butter, sugar and flour, but there are also salty variations. Often housewives add nuts, spices and raisins inside. Gata can be stored for a long time.

It is served with tea and also eaten with matsun.

Armenian gata recipe

There are several recipes, but their common feature is that the dough should be dense and flaky. The ingredient list is pretty straightforward. The only difficulty that can be encountered while cooking in Russia is the lack of matsun. In general, this is not the biggest problem, since matsun can be replaced with any fermented milk product, for example, natural yogurt or yogurt.

Here is the standard way of making an Armenian gata:

Add a pinch of salt and soda to 400 g of white flour and stir.

  • Add 250 g of finely chopped or grated cold butter with a knife.
  • Shuffle the food with your hands until fine crumbs are formed.
  • Make a notch, pour in 1 cup of matsun. Knead the dough, adding flour as needed to avoid sticking to your hands. Wrap the ball in plastic wrap and leave in a cool place for half an hour.
  • Prepare the filling by mixing 80 g butter, 120 g flour and one and a half cups of sugar (powdered). Add vanillin and stir until soft, crumbly.
  • Roll out a thin layer of dough, lay out an even layer of choriz and roll it up. Cut it into pieces, place on a baking sheet with parchment paper, brush with egg yolk and bake until golden brown at 180 ° C for about 20 minutes.

Today we'll talk about an incredibly tasty and easy-to-prepare dish. The Armenian gata is known to a Russian from the famous Soviet comedy "Prisoner of the Caucasus". It was this dish that the heroine of the film ate. But the peoples of Transcaucasia have been preparing gata for many centuries. Even in medieval chronicles, there are the first mentions of this dish.

Several hundred years ago, gata was served only on large celebrations and was considered an exclusively festive dish. In those days, savory cakes were baked only in the tandoor. Today, modern housewives mastering the gata recipe use gas or electric stoves. Although in some families, traditional gata is still cooked only in a real oven.

History has preserved several legends that relate to this dish. The first says that when cooking, the hostess always put a coin inside the cake. Whoever got it could count on good luck and nourishing rich days. The second tells about the method of serving the dish. A tray was placed on the back of the youngest member of the family, on which there was one whole cake. The young man bent down as low as possible, and the elder cut the sweetness into portions.

It should be noted that each region has its own gata recipe. For example, an Arkhaz or Kirovakan hostess will cook the dough only on dough. And in Yerevan, unpaired dough is used. The filling also differs depending on the region. Yerevan housewives will certainly fry the filling and then cut it with a special curly knife. And in Gyumri they will also add granulated sugar.

Gata is never sweet because the history of the Armenian people is too bitter

According to the traditional recipe, gata is prepared without a lot of sugar. The dough can be yeast and sour cream, without yeast and flaky. Even on the basis of yogurt, dough for gata is made.

The pastries are prepared in two versions. In the first case, it will be a flat, large cake, the diameter of which is about twenty centimeters. In the second - a roll, cut into portioned slices. As for flour, there is a huge choice for housewives. The recipe allows the use of corn, wheat flour, with or without the addition of starch. Pohindz is also sometimes used - the basis of this baking composition is chopped and toasted wheat.

As for the internal composition, the traditional Armenian gata has a filling called khoriz. It is fried flour mixed with ghee and flavored with chopped nuts or sugar. Some housewives use raisins, almonds or sesame seeds as a filling. The gata recipe does not allow for a lot of sugary ingredients. This must be remembered.

Classic gata. Ingredients for the dough

Grocery list:

  • Wheat flour - 3 stack.
  • Matsoni - 1.5 cups (can be replaced with low-fat sour cream).
  • Two eggs (preferably homemade ones containing a bright yolk).
  • 220 g butter.
  • One tea. spoon of baking soda.
  • Half a spoonful of salt.
  • Pinch of vanillin (optional)
  • Baking powder.
  • Sugar - optional. Some recipes use honey instead of granulated sugar.

Filling

To prepare the traditional filling for the Armenian butter ghata, you should take one glass of sugar and flour, as well as a piece of butter weighing 150-170 g.

How to cook gata properly: preparing horiz

Experienced Caucasian housewives advise starting the dough preparation process with the filling. Horise is done very quickly and easily. Pour flour into a small but deep container. We forget to sift it first. We make a well. Pour melted butter into it in a neat stream.

Next comes a spoon or hands. Grind the flour and butter carefully so that there are no large untidy lumps. To make the filling more crumbly, you can add a little flour to the wet oil mass. Since we will not put sugar in the dough, we make the filling sweeter. At the last stage of kneading, add granulated sugar or honey.

After cooking, the choriz is poured into a small container with a lid and put into the refrigerator. Note that such a sweet gata filling can be kept in the cold for up to several weeks. Once we did more, another time - we do not waste time, we use ready-made filling.

Let's go to the test

Before starting to prepare the dough, divide the flour into three parts. Pour two of them into a container and add cold butter there. It does not need to be melted, we just break it or cut it with a knife into small pieces. If there is no butter in the house, then you can always replace it with a good margarine. It is important that it is unsalted and high in fat.

Now let's get to the fun part. If the Russian hostess uses her hands or a spoon to knead the dough, then the Armenian one uses a large knife. We begin to literally chop up the dough, mixing it with butter. As a result, you should end up with rather large pieces, the size of which is not less than a buckwheat grain.

We form a small slide from the chopped dough, make a depression in the very center. We break eggs there. Leave the yolk of one egg during this process. It will be used later to grease gata cookies.

We are not in a hurry. Gently mix the egg mass right in the center with a fork. Now pour yogurt into the well and add soda. The reaction will not be long in coming. In a matter of seconds, the white volcano will play out over the mountain of dough. After the riot of soda and yogurt has subsided, add sugar (optional), salt, vanillin and baking powder. Picking up the dough with a knife with the edge in the center, mix.

In order for you to get a soft and pliable dough, you can vary the amount of flour in the process.

A fairly large amount of dough is obtained from the listed ingredients. If you don't plan on baking large quantities of gata right away, you can put two-thirds or one-third of the dough in the freezer. It will be perfectly stored there until the moment when your household again does not want to taste the Armenian sweets.

If baking is planned for tomorrow, then you can simply transfer a piece of dough into a plastic bag and put it on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator. That is why the gata recipe is wonderful: the filling and dough can be made in large quantities in advance, and they can be used when needed.

We form a roll

Divide the piece of dough left for work into two parts. Each portion should be rolled out into a sheet, the thickness of which will not be more than two millimeters. You do not need to sprinkle the rolled piece with flour, the dough for the gata is already quite fatty, it will not stick to the table.

Pour a few tablespoons of the filling into the center. We level it so that about five millimeters of pure dough remains from the edges. The loose edges will help shape the baked goods later. As soon as the filling is distributed, we proceed to twisting the roll. It should be tight enough.

Lubricate the roll on top with the yolk that we left earlier. You can prick with a fork in some places so that the dish is baked faster. You can bake the gata in this form, but experienced housewives advise cutting it straight into portioned pieces. This will significantly shorten the cooking time and the sweetness will be more crunchy.

The oven should already be ready for use. It should be heated up to 200 degrees. We time the clock. It will take 20-25 minutes to prepare the puff gata.

Profitable dessert

We have already said that the dough and filling for gata are perfectly stored in the refrigerator for a long time. It turns out that the sweetness itself can easily be frozen and prepared for future use. It is heated in the oven or in the microwave.

Freshly cooked, but not eaten until the end of the gata will be great to store in a regular bread basket or under a towel for three to five days. The dish is served with kefir, milk, yogurt or fragrant aromatic tea.

On a note

  • Walnuts or almonds, crushed into fine dust, can be added to the filling. Some housewives use poppy seeds with sugar.
  • Instead of vanillin, it is better to use natural vanilla. This is what Armenian housewives add to their desserts.
  • Armenian gata reminds one of baklava, another - cottage cheese juice, the third - sweetish biscuits made from puff pastry. For each gata, it reveals its own specific taste.
  • It is important to remember that the dish contains more than three hundred calories per hundred grams of the product. Women who watch their weight should not abuse this delicacy. Although, we assure you, no one can resist the alluring aroma and incredible taste of the Armenian gata.

Bon Appetit!